"There is no need to consciously teach “footwork”." Oscars own words in this thread and my reason for asking for clarification from him, as i disagree (assuming he means "footwork" rather than "movement").

yes people learn balance when they are 1 year old... but they may not consciously pay enough attention to it during tennis, because there is a BIG gap between making a UE and falling on ones face due to loss of balance.

kids I have helped, told me they play better when reminded of staying in balance.

i think murray is a better model for recs to copy as his head is always so quiet...

"As a beginner you can learn the basic stroke just standing there facing the net with someone feeding you an easy ball. Gradually the body will adjust by itself.
Eventually, learning to lose your balance develops speed around the court.
There is no need to consciously teach “footwork”."

That makes a big difference to me.

One of my earlier coaches taught me to step out always with the outside foot. So on a fh always the right foot first. Then its either shuffle or cross over step depending on the distance needed to end up hitting open stance. I found I can cover the whole right side within 3 steps this way. Is this still the current thinking?
I do this on both sides of the court.

His thinking was 1 big step with the outside foot and your halfway to the singles line. Another 2 and your beyond the doubles alley.

One of my earlier coaches taught me to step out always with the outside foot. So on a fh always the right foot first. Then its either shuffle or cross over step depending on the distance needed to end up hitting open stance. I found I can cover the whole right side within 3 steps this way. Is this still the current thinking?
I do this on both sides of the court.

His thinking was 1 big step with the outside foot and your halfway to the singles line. Another 2 and your beyond the doubles alley.

Good point and I was researching the same. Let us go to Oscar directly and learn from him. For the case of the cross over, Oscar believes in starting the body lean first, and let the inside leg come over naturally. I read it as NOT doing the step out with the outside foot first for a crossover step.

From the page, it is not clear what is required for a shuffle step according to him.

I've learned that in Oscar's world, when he says not to focus on the feet, he doesn't mean that it's not important. Rather, the cues he provides will lead to the feet and body doing the right thing.

For example, I struggled with volley footwork for a long time. I finally tried Oscar's cues, which take the focus back to the hand, and his cue that one leads with the head - yes, I mean the head with two eyes in it, not the racquet head. When I did this, presto, the feet did the right thing, and now I just don't think about it. The physical reason I think is that when one leads with the head, the body goes out of balance, and one is forced to take a step - and there you have it, the volley footwork!

Similarly for the forehand, being in open stance forces one to line up with the ball using the outside foot.

All this said, I still believe for tennis beyond the club level - where most of us will probably never go - coaching and fine tuning of all aspects, including footwork, is essential. But it's probably going too far to treat footwork like a dance that needs to be choreographed.

Good point and I was researching the same. Let us go to Oscar directly and learn from him. For the case of the cross over, Oscar believes in starting the body lean first, and let the inside leg come over naturally. I read it as NOT doing the step out with the outside foot first for a crossover step.

From the page, it is not clear what is required for a shuffle step according to him.

From my personal experience learning footwork (11 years old i think at the time) I was told to start with a cross over step with a fall to the side you want to go only if you had to go further and faster than using the first outside step can take you. So yes it is situational in my instruction as ideally you wanted to stay centered and balanced when you moved to the ball. The cross over start would really be the begining of a Sprint to the ball. Not the controlled glide of stepping out with the ourside foot. Two different situations. But to be honest I never think about any of that. I did the practices as a kid and never thought about it again.

From my personal experience learning footwork (11 years old i think at the time) I was told to start with a cross over step with a fall to the side you want to go only if you had to go further and faster than using the first outside step can take you. So yes it is situational in my instruction as ideally you wanted to stay centered and balanced when you moved to the ball. The cross over start would really be the begining of a Sprint to the ball. Not the controlled glide of stepping out with the ourside foot. Two different situations. But to be honest I never think about any of that. I did the practices as a kid and never thought about it again.

Several points here.

The Oscar point is the situation you are describing if the Federer photo is an indication. It seems to be what the pros do when there is distance to be covered.

I assume that for the shuffle step, Oscar would have to go with outside foot out first also, as I cannot imagine it being done with a lean.

Most shots do not require the extreme sprint you described. They are either shuffle step or a not so extreme cross step. In that case, NOT putting the outside foot first in cross step means learning two footwork patterns for the common cases - outside foot out for shuffle, but not for cross step.

In that case, your strategy of almost always putting the outside foot out first for every step, cross or shuffle, except the extreme sprint case, is more uniform.

(Note to others: if you disagree, post technical arguments only and do not throw insults and derail the thread.)

Good point and I was researching the same. Let us go to Oscar directly and learn from him. For the case of the cross over, Oscar believes in starting the body lean first, and let the inside leg come over naturally. I read it as NOT doing the step out with the outside foot first for a crossover step.

From the page, it is not clear what is required for a shuffle step according to him.

Suresh, for someone who is so judgmental about my techniques in so many aspects, you most likely have seen all my videos (DVDs), right? But then you are wrong, because the first move with the outside foot is clearly explained there. Or is it that you have limited information from what you pick up here and there? If this is the case, how can you intelligently pass on judgement?

Read the wikipedia page about Guga Kuerten (English and Spanish versions) and you will find the names of Guga's coaches. Don't believe any propaganda. Learn to think on your own, for a change.

From Wikipedia:

"As a young player, Kuerten first learned from Carlos Alves. Alves would continue to coach Kuerten for the next 8 years. When he was 14 years old, Kuerten met Larri Passos who would be his coach for the following 15 years. Passos convinced Kuerten and his family that the youth was talented enough to make a living out of playing tennis. The two started traveling all over the world to participate in junior tournaments. Kuerten turned professional in 1995."

Carlos Alves first invited me to Brazil in 1982, and I worked with him and his 60 kid student body both in in his Brazil academy in ASTEL, Florianopolis, through the 1980s, and in the South Florida tournament circuit until December 1991, when Guga got to the quarters of the Orange Bowl 14s. Carlos Alves has given me several acknowledgements in writing as to the work we did, which included Guga until December 1991. Some are posted in my website.

Suresh, did you notice that the Wikipedia article says that Passos started with Guga when he was 14? What about the story that Passos was with Guga since he was 8? No mention of it anymore? That Guga's father had asked Passos to coach his kid? Guga's father died from a heart attack when Guga was 8 (mid 80s), while umpiring a junior match at a tournament in Itajai. I doubt that Guga's father knew him. Passos was from Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, the very south of Brazil, and did not appear around Florianapolis until the late 80s.

^^^Oscar, Just in case you missed it amongst all the stuff that has been filling up the thread, I have reposted my questions here...

Quote:

Some interesting points Oscar, thanks for sharing your ideas.

Just on the points above, I have heard many times the phrase "tennis is a game of emergencies", but I have always thought that makes it sound like a passive game for the player it refers to - in other words you have to just deal with what the opponent sends you. Personally I prefer players to think about what they can create rather than what they cope with.

When you refer to "footwork" do you in fact mean "movement"? I feel there is a difference between the two. From what I have read of your work and the stuff I have done with Andy and John over here, I think you mean movement to the ball should come naturally. There are a couple of specific footwork patterns which can be anything but natural which are essential skills for high level tennis, which need to be taught in my opinion.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Cheers

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Guga thanks Oscar in the flap of one of his books. As well as on the cover of the "play better tennis in 2 hours" book by Oscar wegner BORG is quoted thanking Oscar for coaching him. Let's absorb this a bit. Borg one of the best ever hired oscar as a coach.

This simple fact should show the extent of Oscars influence. The same oscar that posts free tennis tips here. Gives away his book here. And some Hack posters have to gal to harass the man over trivial things. We should do all we can to keep tennis teaching pros engaged and posting in this forum. Unless we rather have self proclaimed internet guru hacks run this place.

Thanks you Oscar for coming here despite a harsh welcome by some ill informed people,

Guga thanks Oscar in the flap of one of his books. As well as on the cover of the "play better tennis in 2 hours" book by Oscar wegner BORG is quoted thanking Oscar for coaching him. Let's absorb this a bit. Borg one of the best ever hired oscar as a coach.

This simple fact should show the extent of Oscars influence. The same oscar that posts free tennis tips here. Gives away his book here. And some Hack posters have to gal to harass the man over trivial things. We should do all we can to keep tennis teaching pros engaged and posting in this forum. Unless we rather have self proclaimed internet guru hacks run this place.

Thanks you Oscar for coming here despite a harsh welcome by some ill informed people,

I am amazed and grateful that Oscar continues to provide such great content considering the atmosphere here. He has much thicker skin than I do!

"As a young player, Kuerten first learned from Carlos Alves. Alves would continue to coach Kuerten for the next 8 years. When he was 14 years old, Kuerten met Larri Passos who would be his coach for the following 15 years. Passos convinced Kuerten and his family that the youth was talented enough to make a living out of playing tennis. The two started traveling all over the world to participate in junior tournaments. Kuerten turned professional in 1995."

Carlos Alves first invited me to Brazil in 1982, and I worked with him and his 60 kid student body both in in his Brazil academy in ASTEL, Florianopolis, through the 1980s, and in the South Florida tournament circuit until December 1991, when Guga got to the quarters of the Orange Bowl 14s. Carlos Alves has given me several acknowledgements in writing as to the work we did, which included Guga until December 1991. Some are posted in my website.

Suresh, did you notice that the Wikipedia article says that Passos started with Guga when he was 14? What about the story that Passos was with Guga since he was 8? No mention of it anymore? That Guga's father had asked Passos to coach his kid? Guga's father died from a heart attack when Guga was 8 (mid 80s), while umpiring a junior match at a tournament in Itajai. I doubt that Guga's father knew him. Passos was from Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, the very south of Brazil, and did not appear around Florianapolis until the late 80s.

Thanks for the clarification. I would like to see a verified source other than on your web page.

^^^Oscar, Just in case you missed it amongst all the stuff that has been filling up the thread, I have reposted my questions here...

Thanks for staying focused and keeping the thread about Oscar's tips, in spite of people's attempts to derail it.

Just to add, my follow up question was (along with more illustrations of non-natural footwork) how tennis being a game of emergencies can be reconciled with previous claims of there being too much time after the bounce to hit the ball. I suppose there is room for word play here, but I would like Oscar to reflect upon his two comments made in different contexts and try to reconcile them.

Just to clear up something, I want to make sure that Oscar understands where exactly Guga came into this thread, otherwise the usual suspects will distort everything. A poster insulted me and asked me if Guga learnt strokes by himself or somebody coached him. Why he bought up Guga all of a sudden is up to him. I referred him to Wikipedia which names his coaches. That is all. I am not responsible for the well-researched and moderated contents of Wiki pages.

I do agree. It interesting that he has been on all morning and won't address this. I want to know about this so called TW get together that never heard of. He hides from these questions, but loves to challenge minute irrelevant details.

The event actually did happen. I was there and a few other TT members including RKelly and TheJackal from KickServeTennis.com (philip peliwo's friend). The best part was the TheJackal brought one of peliwo's new racquets so I got to hit with a pro stick from a 4 time grand slam finalist. woohoo!